Mobile terminal and controlling method thereof

ABSTRACT

A mobile terminal including a wireless communication unit configured to perform wireless communication; a touchscreen configured to display information and sense a touch input; and a controller configured to display an object between a first region and a second region of the touchscreen, adjust sizes of the first and second regions based on a shifting of the object, display an input window at the first region, display a virtual keypad at a bottom part of the touchscreen in response to the input window being selected, and display the first region above the virtual keypad.

CROSS REFERENCE TO THE RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a Continuation of copending application Ser. No.14/168,870, filed on Jan. 30, 2014, which claims priority under 35U.S.C. §119(a) to Application No. 10-2013-0011449, filed in Korea onJan. 31, 2013, all of which are hereby expressly incorporated byreference into the present application.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a mobile terminal, and moreparticularly, to a mobile terminal and controlling method thereofAlthough the present invention is suitable for a wide scope ofapplications, it is particularly suitable for facilitating data to beshared using a screen partitioned into two regions.

2. Discussion of the Related Art

A mobile terminal is a device which can perform various functions suchas data and voice communications, capturing images and video via acamera, recording audio, playing music files and outputting music via aspeaker system, and displaying images and video on a display. Generally,terminals can be classified into mobile terminals and stationaryterminals. In addition, the mobile terminals can be further classifiedinto handheld terminals and vehicle mounted terminals.

Owing to the ongoing expansion of functions of a mobile terminal, themobile terminal currently plays a role as a sharing device capable ofsharing data with other counterparts anytime, anywhere. However, thereis a problem that a process for sharing data through a mobile terminalis not a simple matter.

For instance, in order to transmit an image saved in one mobile terminalto another terminal, a user has to apply a plurality of user inputs: i)a user input for displaying a chat window having a reception destinationset to another mobile terminal; ii) a user input for file attachment;iii) a user input for setting an attribute of a file to attach to animage; iv) a user input for selecting an image to attach from an imagelist; and v) others.

Moreover, when sharing data through a plurality of the above-enumerateduser inputs, a user should select a data to share by interrupting a chatwith a prescribed counterpart for a while. Hence, it causes a problemthat the user is unable to check a message received from the chatcounterpart while selecting the data to share.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Accordingly, embodiments of the present invention are directed to amobile terminal and controlling method thereof that substantiallyobviate one or more problems due to limitations and disadvantages of therelated art.

An object of the present invention is to provide a mobile terminal andcontrolling method thereof, by which user's convenience can be enhanced.

In particular, one object of the present invention is to provide amobile terminal and controlling method thereof, by which a data sharingis facilitated using a screen partitioned into two regions.

Additional advantages, objects, and features of the invention will beset forth in the disclosure herein as well as the accompanying drawings.Such aspects may also be appreciated by those skilled in the art basedon the disclosure herein.

To achieve these objects and other advantages and in accordance with thepurpose of the invention, as embodied and broadly described herein, amobile terminal according to one embodiment of the present invention mayinclude a wireless communication unit configured to perform wirelesscommunication, a touchscreen configured to be partitioned into a firstregion and a second region, and a controller, if a touch input isapplied to a first point inside the first region and a second pointinside the second region while a chat window for a chat with acounterpart is displayed through the first region, configured to controlshared data in the second region to be transmitted to the counterpart.

In another aspect of the present invention, a method of controlling amobile terminal according to another embodiment of the present inventionmay include the steps of partitioning a touchscreen into a first regionand a second region, receiving a touch input to a first point inside thefirst region and a second point inside the second region while a chatwindow for a chat with a counterpart is displayed through the firstregion, and transmitting shared data in the second region to thecounterpart in response to the touch input.

Effects obtainable from the present invention may be non-limited by theabove mentioned effect. In addition, other unmentioned effects can beclearly understood from the following description by those havingordinary skill in the technical field to which the present inventionpertains.

It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description andthe following detailed description of the present invention areexemplary and explanatory and are intended to provide furtherexplanation of the invention as claimed.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings, which are included to provide a furtherunderstanding of the invention and are incorporated in and constitute apart of this application, illustrate embodiment(s) of the invention andtogether with the description serve to explain the principle of theinvention. The above and other aspects, features, and advantages of thepresent invention will become more apparent upon consideration of thefollowing description of preferred embodiments, taken in conjunctionwith the accompanying drawing figures. In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a mobile terminal according to oneembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a front perspective diagram of a mobile terminal according toone embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a rear perspective diagram of a mobile terminal according toone embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of a mobile terminalaccording to the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating one example to describe a process forpartitioning a touchscreen into a first region and a second region;

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating one example to describe a process forpartitioning a touchscreen into two regions in portrait mode of a mobileterminal;

FIGS. 7A to 7C are diagrams illustrating one example to describe aprocess for partitioning a touchscreen into a first region and a secondregion when a prescribed object is dragged to a display agent bar;

FIGS. 8A to 8E are diagrams illustrating one example to describe aprocess for partitioning a touchscreen into a first region and a secondregion when an event for communication with another terminal occurs;

FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating one example to describe a process forpartitioning a touchscreen into a first region and a second region whena prescribed character is detected from a preview image output from acamera using face recognition;

FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating one example to describe a process forpartitioning a touchscreen into a first region and a second region whenan object linked through a hyperlink is selected;

FIGS. 11A to 11C are diagrams illustrating one example to describe aprocess for outputting a virtual keypad to a touchscreen;

FIGS. 12A to 12C are diagrams illustrating one example to describe anoperation of a mobile terminal if a first application and a secondapplication are identical to each other;

FIG. 13 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of a mobile terminalaccording to the present invention;

FIG. 14 is a diagram of one example to describe a process fortransmitting data displayed through a second region to a prescribedcounterpart;

FIG. 15 is a diagram of another example to describe a process fortransmitting data displayed through a second region to a prescribedcounterpart;

FIG. 16 is a diagram of a further example to describe a process fortransmitting data displayed through a second region to a prescribedcounterpart;

FIG. 17 is a diagram of one example to describe a process fortransmitting a data file saved in a memory to a prescribed counterpart;

FIG. 18 is a diagram of one example to describe a process fortransmitting data created a second application to a prescribedcounterpart;

FIG. 19 is a diagram of one example to describe a process fortransmitting data to share to a prescribed one of a plurality ofcounterparts having a group chat in progress only;

FIG. 20 is a diagram of one example to describe a process for inputtinga memo using data displayed through a first region;

FIG. 21 is a diagram of one example to describe a process for adding auser schedule using data displayed through a first region;

FIG. 22 is a diagram of another example to describe a process for addinga user schedule using data displayed through a first region; and

FIG. 23 is a diagram of one example to describe a process forcontrolling an operation of a second application running in a secondregion based on a prescribed counterpart's message displayed on a firstregion.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

In the following detailed description, reference is made to theaccompanying drawing figures which form a part hereof, and which show byway of illustration specific embodiments of the invention. It is to beunderstood by those of ordinary skill in this technological field thatother embodiments may be utilized, and structural, electrical, as wellas procedural changes may be made without departing from the scope ofthe present invention. Wherever possible, the same reference numberswill be used throughout the drawings to refer to the same or similarparts.

As used herein, the suffixes ‘module’, ‘unit’ and ‘part’ are used forelements in order to facilitate the disclosure only. Therefore,significant meanings or roles are not given to the suffixes themselvesand it is understood that the ‘module’, ‘unit’ and ‘part’ can be usedtogether or interchangeably.

The present invention can be applicable to a various types of mobileterminals. Examples of such terminals include mobile phones, userequipment, smart phones, digital broadcast receivers, personal digitalassistants, laptop computers, portable multimedia players (PMP),navigators and the like. However, the present invention is alsoapplicable to a fixed terminal as a digital TV, a desktop computer andthe like as well as a mobile terminal.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a mobile terminal 100 in accordance with anembodiment of the present invention. FIG. 1 shows the mobile terminal100 according to one embodiment of the present invention includes awireless communication unit 110, an A/V (audio/video) input unit 120, auser input unit 130, a sensing unit 140, an output unit 150, a memory160, an interface unit 170, a controller 180, a power supply unit 190and the like. FIG. 1 shows the mobile terminal 100 having variouscomponents, but implementing all of the illustrated components is not arequirement. Greater or fewer components may alternatively beimplemented.

First of all, the wireless communication unit 110 typically includes oneor more components which permits wireless communication between themobile terminal 100 and a wireless communication system or networkwithin which the mobile terminal 100 is located. For instance, thewireless communication unit 110 can include a broadcast receiving module111, a mobile communication module 112, a wireless internet module 113,a short-range communication module 114, a position-location module 115and the like.

The broadcast receiving module 111 receives a broadcast signal and/orbroadcast associated information from an external broadcast managingserver via a broadcast channel. The broadcast channel may include asatellite channel and a terrestrial channel. At least two broadcastreceiving modules 111 can be provided to the mobile terminal 100 inpursuit of simultaneous receptions of at least two broadcast channels orbroadcast channel switching facilitation.

The broadcast managing server generally refers to a server whichgenerates and transmits a broadcast signal and/or broadcast associatedinformation or a server which is provided with a previously generatedbroadcast signal and/or broadcast associated information and thentransmits the provided signal or information to a terminal. Thebroadcast signal may be implemented as a TV broadcast signal, a radiobroadcast signal, and a data broadcast signal, among others. If desired,the broadcast signal may further include a broadcast signal combinedwith a TV or radio broadcast signal.

The broadcast associated information includes information associatedwith a broadcast channel, a broadcast program, a broadcast serviceprovider, etc. In addition, the broadcast associated information can beprovided via a mobile communication network. In this instance, thebroadcast associated information can be received by the mobilecommunication module 112.

The broadcast associated information can be implemented in variousforms. For instance, broadcast associated information may include anelectronic program guide (EPG) of digital multimedia broadcasting (DMB)and electronic service guide (ESG) of digital video broadcast-handheld(DVB-H).

The broadcast receiving module 111 may be configured to receivebroadcast signals transmitted from various types of broadcast systems.By a non-limiting example, such broadcasting systems include digitalmultimedia broadcasting-terrestrial (DMB-T), digital multimediabroadcasting-satellite (DMB-S), digital video broadcast-handheld(DVB-H), Convergence of Broadcasting and Mobile Service(DVB-CBMS), OpenMobile Alliance-BroadCAST(OMA-BCAST), China Multimedia MobileBroadcasting (CMMB), Mobile Broadcasting Business Management System(MBBMS), the data broadcasting system known as media forward link only(MediaFLO®) and integrated services digital broadcast-terrestrial(ISDB-T). Optionally, the broadcast receiving module 111 can beconfigured suitable for other broadcasting systems as well as theabove-explained digital broadcasting systems.

The broadcast signal and/or broadcast associated information received bythe broadcast receiving module 111 may be stored in a suitable device,such as a memory 160.

The mobile communication module 112 transmits/receives wireless signalsto/from one or more network entities (e.g., base station, externalterminal, server, etc.) via a mobile network such as GSM (Global Systemfor Mobile communications), CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access), WCDMA(Wideband CDMA) and so on. Such wireless signals may represent audio,video, and data according to text/multimedia message transceivings,among others.

The wireless internet module 113 supports Internet access for the mobileterminal 100. This module may be internally or externally coupled to themobile terminal 100. In this instance, the wireless Internet technologycan include WLAN(Wireless LAN) (Wi-Fi), Wibro (Wireless broadband),Wimax (World Interoperability for Microwave Access), HSDPA(High SpeedDownlink Packet Access), GSM, CDMA, WCDMA, LTE (Long Term Evolution)etc.

Wireless internet access by Wibro, HSPDA, GSM, CDMA, WCDMA, LTE or thelike is achieved via a mobile communication network. In this aspect, thewireless internet module 113 configured to perform the wireless internetaccess via the mobile communication network can be understood as a sortof the mobile communication module 112.

The short-range communication module 114 facilitates relativelyshort-range communications. Suitable technologies for implementing thismodule include radio frequency identification (RFID), infrared dataassociation (IrDA), ultra-wideband (UWB), as well at the networkingtechnologies commonly referred to as Bluetooth and ZigBee, to name afew.

The position-location module 115 identifies or otherwise obtains thelocation of the mobile terminal 100. If desired, this module may beimplemented with a global positioning system (GPS) module. According tothe current technology, the GPS module 115 can precisely calculatecurrent 3-dimensional position information based on at least one oflongitude, latitude and altitude and direction (or orientation) bycalculating distance information and precise time information from atleast three satellites and then applying triangulation to the calculatedinformation. Currently, location and time information are calculatedusing three satellites, and errors of the calculated location positionand time information are then amended using another satellite. Besides,the GPS module 115 can calculate speed information by continuouslycalculating a real-time current location.

Referring to FIG. 1, the audio/video (A/V) input unit 120 is configuredto provide audio or video signal input to the mobile terminal 100. Asshown, the A/V input unit 120 includes a camera 121 and a microphone122. The camera 121 receives and processes image frames of stillpictures or video, which are obtained by an image sensor in a video callmode or a photographing mode. In addition, the processed image framescan be displayed on the display 151.

The image frames processed by the camera 121 can be stored in the memory160 or can be externally transmitted via the wireless communication unit110. Optionally, at least two cameras 121 can be provided to the mobileterminal 100 according to environment of usage.

The microphone 122 receives an external audio signal while the portabledevice is in a particular mode, such as phone call mode, recording modeand voice recognition. This audio signal is processed and converted intoelectric audio data. The processed audio data is transformed into aformat transmittable to a mobile communication base station via themobile communication module 112 when a call mode. The microphone 122typically includes assorted noise removing algorithms to remove noisegenerated during receiving the external audio signal.

The user input unit 130 generates input data responsive to usermanipulation of an associated input device or devices. Examples of suchdevices include a button 136 provided to front/rear/lateral side of themobile terminal 100 and a touch sensor (constant pressure/electrostatic)137 and may further include a key pad, a dome switch, a jog wheel, a jogswitch and the like.

The sensing unit 140 provides sensing signals for controlling operationsof the mobile terminal 100 using status measurements of various aspectsof the mobile terminal. For instance, the sensing unit 140 may detect anopen/close status of the mobile terminal 100, relative positioning ofcomponents (e.g., a display and keypad) of the mobile terminal 100, achange of position of the mobile terminal 100 or a component of themobile terminal 100, a presence or absence of user contact with themobile terminal 100, orientation or acceleration/deceleration of themobile terminal 100. By non-limiting example, such sensing unit 140include, gyro sensor, accelerate sensor, geomagnetic sensor.

As an example, consider the mobile terminal 100 being configured as aslide-type mobile terminal. In this configuration, the sensing unit 140may sense whether a sliding portion of the mobile terminal is open orclosed. Other examples include the sensing unit 140 sensing the presenceor absence of power provided by the power supply 190, the presence orabsence of a coupling or other connection between the interface unit 170and an external device. In addition, the sensing unit 140 can include aproximity sensor 141.

The output unit 150 generates outputs relevant to the senses of sight,hearing, touch and the like. In addition, the output unit 150 includesthe display 151, an audio output module 152, an alarm unit 153, and ahaptic module 154 and the like.

The display 151 is typically implemented to visually display (output)information associated with the mobile terminal 100. For instance, ifthe mobile terminal is operating in a phone call mode, the display willgenerally provide a user interface (UI) or graphical user interface(GUI) which includes information associated with placing, conducting,and terminating a phone call. As another example, if the mobile terminal100 is in a video call mode or a photographing mode, the display 151 mayadditionally or alternatively display images which are associated withthese modes, the UI or the GUI.

The display module 151 may be implemented using known displaytechnologies including, for example, a liquid crystal display (LCD), athin film transistor-liquid crystal display (TFT-LCD), an organiclight-emitting diode display (OLED), a flexible display and athree-dimensional display. The mobile terminal 100 may include one ormore of such displays.

Some of the above displays can be implemented in a transparent oroptical transmittive type, which can be named a transparent display. Asa representative example for the transparent display, there is TOLED(transparent OLED) or the like. A rear configuration of the display 151can be implemented in the optical transmittive type as well. In thisconfiguration, a user can see an object in rear of a terminal body viathe area occupied by the display 151 of the terminal body.

At least two displays 151 can be provided to the mobile terminal 100 inaccordance with the implemented configuration of the mobile terminal100. For instance, a plurality of displays can be arranged on a singleface of the mobile terminal 100 by being spaced apart from each other orbeing built in one body. Alternatively, a plurality of displays can bearranged on different faces of the mobile terminal 100.

When the display 151 and the touch sensor 137 configures a mutual layerstructure (hereinafter called ‘touch screen’), it can use the display151 as an input device as well as an output device. In this instance,the touch sensor can be configured as a touch film, a touch sheet, atouchpad or the like.

The touch sensor 137 can be configured to convert a pressure applied toa specific portion of the display 151 or a variation of a capacitancegenerated from a specific portion of the display 151 to an electricinput signal. Moreover, it can configure the touch sensor 137 to detecta pressure of a touch as well as a touched position or size.

If a touch input is made to the touch sensor 137, signal(s)corresponding to the touch is transferred to a touch controller. Thetouch controller processes the signal(s) and then transfers theprocessed signal(s) to the controller 180. Therefore, the controller 180can know whether a prescribed portion of the display 151 is touched.

Referring to FIG. 2, a proximity sensor 141 can be provided to aninternal area of the mobile terminal 100 enclosed by the touchscreen oraround the touchscreen. The proximity sensor is the sensor that detectsa presence or non-presence of an object approaching a prescribeddetecting surface or an object existing around the proximity sensorusing an electromagnetic field strength or infrared ray withoutmechanical contact. Hence, the proximity sensor has durability longerthan that of a contact type sensor and also has utility wider than thatof the contact type sensor.

The proximity sensor can include one of a transmittive photoelectricsensor, a direct reflective photoelectric sensor, a mirror reflectivephotoelectric sensor, a radio frequency oscillation proximity sensor, anelectrostatic capacity proximity sensor, a magnetic proximity sensor, aninfrared proximity sensor and the like. When the touchscreen includesthe electrostatic capacity proximity sensor, it is configured to detectthe proximity of a pointer using a variation of electric field accordingto the proximity of the pointer. In this instance, the touchscreen(touch sensor) can be classified as the proximity sensor.

For clarity and convenience of the following description, as a pointerbecomes proximate to a touchscreen without coming into contact with thetouchscreen, if the pointer is perceived as situated over thetouchscreen, such an action shall be named ‘proximity touch’. If apointer actually comes into contact with a touchscreen, such an actionshall be named ‘contact touch’. A proximity-touched position over thetouchscreen with the pointer may mean a position at which the pointervertically opposes the touchscreen when the touchscreen isproximity-touched with the pointer.

The proximity sensor 141 detects a proximity touch and a proximity touchpattern (e.g., a proximity touch distance, a proximity touch duration, aproximity touch position, a proximity touch shift state, etc.). Inaddition, information corresponding to the detected proximity touchaction and the detected proximity touch pattern can be output to thetouchscreen. An illumination sensor 142 may also be included in thesensing unit 140.

The audio output module 152 functions in various modes including acall-receiving mode, a call-placing mode, a recording mode, a voicerecognition mode, a broadcast reception mode and the like to outputaudio data which is received from the wireless communication unit 110 oris stored in the memory 160. During operation, the audio output module152 outputs audio relating to a particular function (e.g., callreceived, message received, etc.). The audio output module 152 is oftenimplemented using one or more speakers, buzzers, other audio producingdevices, and combinations thereof.

The alarm unit 153 is output a signal for announcing the occurrence of aparticular event associated with the mobile terminal 100. Typical eventsinclude a call received event, a message received event and a touchinput received event. The alarm unit 153 can output a signal forannouncing the event occurrence by way of vibration as well as video oraudio signal. The video or audio signal can be output via the display151 or the audio output unit 152. Hence, the display 151 or the audiooutput module 152 can be regarded as a part of the alarm unit 153.

The haptic module 154 generates various tactile effects that can besensed by a user. Vibration is a representative one of the tactileeffects generated by the haptic module 154. Strength and pattern of thevibration generated by the haptic module 154 are controllable. Forinstance, different vibrations can be output by being synthesizedtogether or can be output in sequence.

The haptic module 154 can generate various tactile effects as well asthe vibration. For instance, the haptic module 154 generates the effectattributed to the arrangement of pins vertically moving against acontact skin surface, the effect attributed to the injection/suctionpower of air though an injection/suction hole, the effect attributed tothe skim over a skin surface, the effect attributed to the contact withelectrode, the effect attributed to the electrostatic force, the effectattributed to the representation of hold/cold sense using an endothermicor exothermic device and the like.

The haptic module 154 can be implemented to enable a user to sense thetactile effect through a muscle sense of finger, arm or the like as wellas to transfer the tactile effect through a direct contact. Optionally,at least two haptic modules 154 can be provided to the mobile terminal100 in accordance with the corresponding configuration type of themobile terminal 100.

The memory unit 160 is generally used to store various types of data tosupport the processing, control, and storage requirements of the mobileterminal 100. Examples of such data include program instructions forapplications operating on the mobile terminal 100, contact data,phonebook data, messages, audio, still pictures (or photo), movingpictures, etc. In addition, a recent use history or a cumulative usefrequency of each data (e.g., use frequency for each phonebook, eachmessage or each multimedia) can be stored in the memory unit 160.Moreover, data for various patterns of vibration and/or sound outputwhen a touch input to the touchscreen can be stored in the memory unit160.

The memory 160 may be implemented using any type or combination ofsuitable volatile and non-volatile memory or storage devices includinghard disk, random access memory (RAM), static random access memory(SRAM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM),erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), programmable read-onlymemory (PROM), read-only memory (ROM), magnetic memory, flash memory,magnetic or optical disk, multimedia card micro type memory, card-typememory (e.g., SD memory, XD memory, etc.), or other similar memory ordata storage device. In addition, the mobile terminal 100 can operate inassociation with a web storage for performing a storage function of thememory 160 on Internet.

The interface unit 170 is often implemented to couple the mobileterminal 100 with external devices. The interface unit 170 receives datafrom the external devices or is supplied with the power and thentransfers the data or power to the respective elements of the mobileterminal 100 or enables data within the mobile terminal 100 to betransferred to the external devices. The interface unit 170 may beconfigured using a wired/wireless headset port, an external chargerport, a wired/wireless data port, a memory card port, a port forcoupling to a device having an identity module, audio input/outputports, video input/output ports, an earphone port and/or the like.

The identity module is the chip for storing various kinds of informationfor authenticating a use authority of the mobile terminal 100 and caninclude User Identify Module (UIM), Subscriber Identify Module (SIM),Universal Subscriber Identity Module (USIM) and/or the like. A devicehaving the identity module (hereinafter called ‘identity device’) can bemanufactured as a smart card. Therefore, the identity device isconnectible to the mobile terminal 100 via the corresponding port.

When the mobile terminal 110 is connected to an external cradle, theinterface unit 170 becomes a passage for supplying the mobile terminal100 with a power from the cradle or a passage for delivering variouscommand signals input from the cradle by a user to the mobile terminal100. Each of the various command signals input from the cradle or thepower can operate as a signal enabling the mobile terminal 100 torecognize that it is correctly loaded in the cradle.

The controller 180 typically controls the overall operations of themobile terminal 100. For example, the controller 180 performs thecontrol and processing associated with voice calls, data communications,video calls, etc. The controller 180 may include a multimedia module 181that provides multimedia playback. The multimedia module 181 may beconfigured as part of the controller 180, or implemented as a separatecomponent. Moreover, the controller 180 can perform a pattern (or image)recognizing process for recognizing a writing input and a picturedrawing input carried out on the touchscreen as characters or images,respectively.

The power supply unit 190 provides power required by the variouscomponents for the mobile terminal 100. The power may be internal power,external power, or combinations thereof. A battery may include abuilt-in rechargeable battery and may be detachably attached to theterminal body for a charging and the like. A connecting port may beconfigured as one example of the interface 170 via which an externalcharger for supplying a power of a battery charging is electricallyconnected.

Various embodiments described herein may be implemented in acomputer-readable medium using, for example, computer software,hardware, or some combination thereof.

For a hardware implementation, the embodiments described herein may beimplemented within one or more application specific integrated circuits(ASICs), digital signal processors (DSPs), digital signal processingdevices (DSPDs), programmable logic devices (PLDs), field programmablegate arrays (FPGAs), processors, controllers, micro-controllers,microprocessors, other electronic units designed to perform thefunctions described herein, or a selective combination thereof Suchembodiments may also be implemented by the controller 180.

For a software implementation, the embodiments described herein may beimplemented with separate software modules, such as procedures andfunctions, each of which perform one or more of the functions andoperations described herein. The software codes can be implemented witha software application written in any suitable programming language andmay be stored in memory such as the memory 160, and executed by acontroller or processor, such as the controller 180.

FIG. 2 is a front perspective diagram of a mobile terminal according toone embodiment of the present invention. The mobile terminal 100 shownin the drawing has a bar type terminal body. However, the mobileterminal 100 may be implemented in a variety of differentconfigurations. Examples of such configurations include folder-type,slide-type, rotational-type, swing-type and combinations thereof Forclarity, further disclosure will primarily relate to a bar-type mobileterminal 100. However such teachings apply equally to other types ofmobile terminals.

Referring to FIGS. 2 and 3, the mobile terminal 100 includes a case(101, 102, 103) configuring an exterior thereof. In the presentembodiment, the case can be divided into a front case 101 and a rearcase 102. Various electric/electronic parts are loaded in a spaceprovided between the front and rear cases 101 and 102.

Occasionally, electronic components can be mounted on a surface of therear case 102. The electronic part mounted on the surface of the rearcase 102 may include such a detachable part as a battery, a USIM card, amemory card and the like. In doing so, the rear case 102 may furtherinclude a backside cover 103 configured to cover the surface of the rearcase 102. In particular, the backside cover 103 has a detachableconfiguration for user's convenience. If the backside cover 103 isdetached from the rear case 102, the surface of the rear case 102 isexposed.

Referring to FIG. 2, if the backside cover 103 is attached to the rearcase 102, a lateral side of the rear case 102 may be exposed in part. Ifa size of the backside cover 103 is decreased, a rear side of the rearcase 102 may be exposed in part. If the backside cover 103 covers thewhole rear side of the rear case 102, it may include an opening 103′configured to expose a camera 121′ or an audio output unit 152′externally.

The cases 101, 102 and 103 are formed by injection molding of syntheticresin or can be formed of metal substance such as stainless steel (STS),titanium (Ti) or the like for example.

A display 151, an audio output unit 152, a camera 121, user input units130/131 and 132, a microphone 122, an interface 180 and the like can beprovided to the case 101 or 102.

The display 151 occupies most of a main face of the front case 101. Theaudio output unit 152 and the camera 121 are provided to an areaadjacent to one of both end portions of the display 151, while the userinput unit 131 and the microphone 122 are provided to another areaadjacent to the other end portion of the display 151. The user inputunit 132 and the interface 170 can be provided to lateral sides of thefront and rear cases 101 and 102.

The input unit 130 is manipulated to receive a command for controllingan operation of the terminal 100. In addition, the input unit 130 caninclude a plurality of manipulating units 131 and 132. The manipulatingunits 131 and 132 can be named a manipulating portion and may adopt anymechanism of a tactile manner that enables a user to perform amanipulation action by experiencing a tactile feeling.

Content input by the first or second manipulating unit 131 or 132 can bediversely set. For instance, such a command as start, end, scroll andthe like is input to the first manipulating unit 131. In addition, acommand for a volume adjustment of sound output from the audio outputunit 152 and the like can be input to the second manipulating unit 132,a command for a switching to a touch recognizing mode of the display 151and the like can be input to the second manipulating unit 133.

FIG. 3 is a perspective diagram of a backside of the terminal shown inFIG. 2. Referring to FIG. 3, a camera 121′ can be additionally providedto a backside of the terminal body, and more particularly, to the rearcase 102. The camera 121 has a photographing direction that issubstantially opposite to that of the former camera 121 shown in FIG. 2and may have pixels differing from those of the firmer camera 121.

Preferably, for instance, the former camera 121 has low pixels enough tocapture and transmit a picture of user's face for a video call, whilethe latter camera 121′ has high pixels for capturing a general subjectfor photography without transmitting the captured subject. In addition,each of the cameras 121 and 121′ can be installed at the terminal bodyto be rotated or popped up.

A flash 123 and a mirror 124 are additionally provided adjacent to thecamera 121′. The flash 123 projects light toward a subject whenphotographing the subject using the camera 121′. When a user attempts totake a picture of the user (self-photography) using the camera 121′, themirror 124 enables the user to view user's face reflected by the mirror124.

An additional audio output unit 152′ can be provided to the backside ofthe terminal body. The additional audio output unit 152′ can implement astereo function together with the former audio output unit 152 shown inFIG. 2 and may be used for implementation of a speakerphone mode intalking over the terminal.

A broadcast signal receiving antenna 116 can be additionally provided tothe lateral side of the terminal body as well as an antenna forcommunication or the like. The antenna 116 constructing a portion of thebroadcast receiving module 111 shown in FIG. 1 can be retractablyprovided to the terminal body.

In the following description, embodiments relating to a controllingmethod implemented in the above-configured mobile terminal shall beexplained with reference to the accompanying drawings.

For clarity and convenience of the following description, assume that amobile terminal mentioned in the following description includes at leastone of the components shown in FIG. 1. In particular, assume that amobile terminal according to the present invention includes the wirelesscommunication unit 110 configured to perform a wireless communication,the display unit 151 partitioned into a first region and a secondregion, and the controller 180. In this instance, if a touch input isapplied to a first point inside the first region and a second pointinside the second region, the controller 180 controls a shared data inthe second region to be transmitted to a counterpart. In some cases, themobile terminal according to the present invention may further includethe camera 121 for photographing and the memory 160 for data storage.

For clarity and convenience of the following description, an applicationrunning in the first region of the display unit 151 shall be named afirst application and an application running in the second region of thedisplay unit 151 shall be named a second application. The first andsecond applications mentioned in the following description ofembodiments are just discriminated from each other in that an activescreen of the corresponding application is output through which regionof the display unit 151 and may not mean different applications. Forinstance, When an active screen of a camera application forphotographing is output through the first region, the camera applicationmay be regarded as the first application mentioned in the description ofthe present invention. If the camera application is output through thesecond region, the camera application may be regarded as the secondapplication mentioned in the description of the present invention.

If the display unit 151 of the mobile terminal according to the presentinvention includes a touchscreen, implementation of the followingembodiments may be further facilitated. Therefore, the followingdescription is made on the assumption that the display unit 151 includesthe touchscreen. Yet, it may be unnecessary for the display unit 151 toinclude the touchscreen. If the display unit 151 does not include thetouchscreen, the mobile terminal according to the present invention mayfurther include a separate input unit (e.g., the user input device 130shown in FIG. 1) configured to receive a user input.

For clarity and convenience of the following description, a personintending to use the mobile terminal according to the present inventionmay be named ‘user’, while a specific person intending to perform acommunication with the mobile terminal according to the presentinvention or a mobile terminal of the specific person may be named‘counterpart’.

In addition, a text message (e.g., a short message service (SMS)message, a long message service (LMS) message, a multimedia messageservice (MMS) message, etc.) with a counterpart as a text message or aninstant message (IM) may be named ‘message’.

Moreover, a text message application for transceiving a text message andor a messenger application for transceiving an instant message may benamed ‘message application.

In the mobile terminal according to the present invention, one operationbefore partitioning the touchscreen into the first region and the secondregion can be discriminated from another operation for facilitating adata sharing with a prescribed counterpart after partitioning thetouchscreen into the first region and the second region. For clarity,the mobile terminal according to the present invention will be describedin detail by discriminating one operation before partitioning thetouchscreen into the first region and the second region and anotheroperation for facilitating a data sharing with a prescribed counterpartafter partitioning the touchscreen into the first region and the secondregion from each other.

<Partitioning Touchscreen into First Region and Second Region>

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of a mobile terminalaccording to the present invention. Referring to FIG. 4, if a user inputfor partitioning the touchscreen into a first region and a second regionis received from a user or a prescribed event occurs (Yes in S401), thecontroller 180 can partition the touchscreen into the first region andthe second region in response to the user input or the event occurrence(S402). When the touchscreen is partitioned into the first region andthe second region, the controller 180 can display an output image, whichis output before the touchscreen is partitioned into the first regionand the second region, on one of the first region and the second region.

A process for partitioning the touchscreen into the first region and thesecond region is described in detail with reference to the accompanyingdrawings. For clarity and convenience of the following description,assume that the output image before partitioning the touchscreen intothe first region and the second region is displayed through the firstregion in the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating one example to describe a process forpartitioning a touchscreen into a first region and a second region.Referring to FIG. 5, a display agent bar 510 is displayed to partitionthe touchscreen into the first region and the second region for example.The display agent bar 510 shown in FIG. 5 is provided to partition thetouchscreen into the first region and the second region. By the displayagent bar 510, the touchscreen can be partitioned into the first regionand the second region.

For instance, if the display agent bar 510 displayed on one end (e.g., aright end in FIG. 5(a)) of the touchscreen is touched or the displayagent bar 510 is touched and dragged to a middle part of the touchscreen(FIG. 5(a)), the controller 180 shifts the display agent bar 510 to themiddle part of the touchscreen and can control left and right parts ofthe touchscreen to be partitioned into a first region 520 and a secondregion 530, respectively, by taking the display agent bar 510 as aboundary in-between (FIG. 5(b)).

If the touchscreen is partitioned into the first region 520 and thesecond region 530, the controller 180 can display an output image, whichwas output before the touchscreen is partitioned into the two regions,on the first region 520. For instance, if a home screen is outputthrough the touchscreen before partitioning the touchscreen into the tworegions (FIG. 5(a)), the controller 180 can control the home screen tobe output to the first region 520 after the touchscreen has beenpartitioned into the two regions.

Unlike the example shown in FIG. 5(a), if an active screen of aprescribed application is output through the touchscreen beforepartitioning the touchscreen into the two regions, the controller 180can control the active screen of the prescribed application, which hasbeen active before partitioning the touchscreen into the two regions, tokeep being output to the first region 520 while partitioning thetouchscreen into the two regions.

The second region 530 is provided to display an active screen of asecond application. In addition, the controller 180 can control thesecond application to be activated automatically or manually in responseto a user input.

In order to activate the second application manually in response to auser input, referring to FIG. 5(b), the controller 180 can control anapplication list to be initially displayed on the second region 530. Ifa prescribed application is selected from the application list displayedon the second region 530, the controller 180 activates the selectedapplication and can then display an active screen of the activatedapplication through the second region 530.

The application list displayed on the second region 530 may include atleast one of a list of applications installed on the mobile terminal, alist of recently activated applications, a list of applicationscurrently running in a background state, and a list of frequently-runapplications amounting to a prescribed number or less. Moreover, thecontroller 180 may display at least two of the above-enumeratedapplication lists on the second region 530. For instance, the controller180 can display the list of the applications installed on the mobileterminal and the list of the frequently-run applications amounting to aprescribed number or less by being sorted by different groups.

The controller 180 can activate the second application automaticallywithout waiting for a user input. In doing so, if the touchscreen ispartitioned into the first region 520 and the second region 530, thecontroller activates a prescribed application immediately and is thenable to control an active screen of the prescribed application to beoutput through the second region 530 of the touchscreen.

In this instance, the automatically activated prescribed application mayinclude one of an application pre-designated by a user, a most recentlyactivated application, a most frequently used application and anapplication identical to a former application running through the firstregion 520.

Meanwhile, FIG. 5 shows that the touchscreen is partitioned into tworegions while a mode of the mobile terminal is set to a landscape mode.However, the touchscreen can be partitioned into two regions while themode of the mobile terminal is set to a portrait mode.

Next, FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating one example to describe a processfor partitioning a touchscreen into two regions in portrait mode of amobile terminal. Referring to FIG. 6, if a display agent bar 610provided to one end of the touchscreen (e.g., a bottom part of thetouchscreen in FIG. 6(a)) is touched or touched & dragged to a middlepart of the touchscreen (FIG. 6(a)), the controller 180 shifts thedisplay agent bar 610 to a middle part of a screen and is then able topartition the touchscreen into a top part and a bottom part of thetouchscreen (i.e., a first region 620 and a second region 630) by takingthe display agent bar 610 as a boundary in-between.

In the examples shown in FIG. 5 and FIG. 6, the display agent bar510/610 is touched or touched & dragged so that the touchscreen can bepartitioned into the two regions. On the other hand, according toanother embodiment of the present invention, when such an object as anicon of an application intended to be newly activated, a messageexchanged with a prescribed counterpart, a contact with a prescribedcounterpart and the like is dragged to the display agent bar 610, thetouchscreen may be partitioned into two regions. This process shall bedescribed in detail with reference to FIG. 7 as follows.

FIGS. 7A to 7C are diagrams illustrating one example to describe aprocess for partitioning a touchscreen into a first region and a secondregion when a prescribed object is dragged to a display agent bar.Referring to FIG. 7A, if an application icon output through thetouchscreen is dragged to a display agent bar 710, the controller 180partitions the touchscreen into a first region 720 and a second region730. In doing so, the controller 180 displays an output image beforepartitioning the touchscreen into the two regions on the first region720, and also displays an active screen of a prescribed applicationcorresponding to the application icon dragged to the display agent bar710 on the second region 730, simultaneously. Like the example shown inFIG. 7A, if a camera icon for photographing is dragged to the displayagent bar 710, the controller 180 partitions the touchscreen into thefirst region 720 and the second region 730 and also displays an image ofa home screen output before partitioning the touchscreen into the tworegions and an active screen of the camera application on the firstregion 720 and the second region 730, respectively.

FIG. 7B is a diagram of an example to describe an operation of themobile terminal when a contact of a prescribed counterpart is dragged tothe display agent bar 710.

Referring to FIG. 7B, when a contact of a prescribed counterpart isdragged to the display agent bar 710, the controller 180 partitions thetouchscreen into a first region 720 and a second region 730. In doingso, the controller 180 can also display an output image beforepartitioning the touchscreen into the two regions and a screen formaking contact with a prescribed counterpart on the first region 720 andthe second regions, respectively.

In this instance, the screen for making contact with the prescribedcounterpart may include one of a dialer screen for making a phone callto the prescribed counterpart, a text message creating screen fordisplaying chat contents using a text message (e.g., SMS message, LMSmessage, MMS message, etc.) exchanged with the prescribed counterpart,an email creating screen for sending an email to the prescribedcounterpart, an instant message creating screen for displaying chatcontents using an instant message (IM) exchanged with the prescribedcounterpart and the like.

Next, FIG. 7C is a diagram of one example to describe an operation ofthe mobile terminal if a profile object of at least one counterpart or amessage received from at least one counterpart is dragged to the displayagent bar 710 during a group chat with a plurality of counterparts.

Referring to FIG. 7C, while a group chat with a plurality ofcounterparts is in progress, if a profile object of a prescribedcounterpart or a message received from a prescribed counterpart isdragged to the display agent bar 710, the controller 180 partitions thetouchscreen into a first region 720 and a second region 730, displays awindow for a chat with a plurality of the counterparts, whichcorresponds to an output image before partitioning the touchscreen intothe two regions, on the first region 720, and also displays a window fora chat with a prescribed one of a plurality of the counterparts on thesecond region 730. In this instance, the profile object may include atleast one of a profile image of a counterpart and a chat nickname of achat counterpart.

In FIG. 7C, while a group chat with Tom and Jane is in progress, since aprofile object Tom is dragged to the display agent bar 710, one chatwindow for a group chat with Tom and Jane is displayed on the firstregion 720 and another chant window for a chat with Tom is displayed onthe second region 730.

As the touchscreen is partitioned into the first region 720 and thesecond region 730, a message input through the first region 720 is sentto each of a plurality of the chat counterparts, while a message inputthrough the second region 730 is sent to a prescribed counterpart only.Moreover, the controller 180 controls a chat content with the prescribedcounterpart to be extracted only from chat contents with a plurality ofthe counterparts displayed through the first region 720 and alsodisplays the extracted chat content through the second region 730, whiledisplaying a chat window of a chat with a prescribed counterpart throughthe second region 730.

Like the example shown in FIG. 7, when such a prescribed object as anapplication icon, a contact of a prescribed counterpart, a profile iconof a prescribed counterpart, a message received from a prescribedcounterpart and the like is dragged to the display agent bar 710, thecontroller 180 can partition the touchscreen into the first region 720and the second region 730 as well.

In the examples shown in FIGS. 5 to 7, if a touch input is applied to adisplay agent bar displayed on the touchscreen or a prescribed contentis dragged to the display agent bar, the touchscreen can be partitionedinto a first region and a second region. When a prescribed event occurs,a mobile terminal according to one embodiment of the present inventioncan partition a touchscreen into a first region and a second region. Inthis instance, the prescribed event for partitioning the touchscreeninto the two regions can include one of such an event for communicationwith another terminal as receiving a message, receiving an email,receiving a call signal during running a prescribed application and thelike and such an event as detecting a face from a preview image outputfrom the camera 121 and the like. A process for partitioning atouchscreen into a first region and a second region in response to anevent occurrence shall be described in detail with reference to FIG. 8and FIG. 9 as follows.

FIGS. 8A to 8E are diagrams illustrating one example to describe aprocess for partitioning a touchscreen into a first region and a secondregion when an event for communication with another terminal occurs. Forclarity of the following description, assume that the mobile terminalactivates a message application for a chat with a first counterpartbefore the touchscreen is partitioned into the first region and thesecond region.

Referring to FIG. 8A, while a chat window with the first counterpart isdisplayed through the mobile terminal, if the mobile terminal receives acall signal, the controller 180 partitions the touchscreen into a firstregion 810 and a second region 820, displays an output screen, which hasbeen output before the touchscreen is partitioned, on the first region810, and also displays a call connection screen on the second region820.

In another instance, referring to FIG. 8B, while a chat window with thefirst counterpart is displayed through the mobile terminal, if themobile terminal receives a message from a second counterpart differentfrom the first counterpart, the controller 180 partitions thetouchscreen into a first region 810 and a second region 820, displaysthe chat window with the first counterpart, which has been output beforethe touchscreen is partitioned into the first region 810 and the secondregion, on the first region 810, and also displays a chat window withthe second counterpart on the second region 820. Hence, a user can havea chat with the first counterpart through the first region 810 of thetouchscreen and can also have a chat with the second counterpart throughthe second region 820.

In the example shown in FIG. 8B, if the message is received from thesecond counterpart during the chat with the first counterpart, thetouchscreen can be partitioned into the first region 810 and the secondregion 820. This example can be applied to a group chat. For instance,while a group chat with a first counterpart and a second counterpart isin progress, if a new message is received from a third counterpart, thecontroller 180 partitions the touchscreen into a first region 810 and asecond region 820, displays a group chat window with the first andsecond counterparts through the first region 810, and also displays achat window with the third counterpart through the second region 820.

Hence, a user can have a group chat with the first counterpart and thesecond counterpart through the first region 810 and can also have a chatwith the third counterpart. Like the example shown in FIG. 8C, while agroup chat with Tom and Jane is in progress, if a new message isreceived from John, the controller 810 displays a chat window for thegroup chat with Tom and Jane through the first region 810 and alsodisplays a chat window with John through the second region 820.

While a group chat with a first counterpart and a second counterpart isin progress, if a message is personally received from one of the firstcounterpart and the second counterpart without using the group chat, thecontroller 180 partitions the touchscreen into a first region 810 and asecond region 820, displays contents of the group chat with the firstcounterpart and the second counterpart through the first region 810, anddisplays the message personally received from one of the firstcounterpart and the second counterpart through the second region 820.

Hence, a user can have the group chat with the first counterpart and thesecond counterpart through the first region 810 of the touchscreen andcan also have a personal chat with one of the first counterpart and thesecond counterpart through the second region 820 of the touchscreen.Like the example shown in FIG. 8D, while a group chat with Tom and Janeis in progress, if a message is personally received from Tom, thecontroller 810 may display a chat window for the group chat with Tom andJane through the first region 810 and display control a chat window withTom through the second region 820.

According to another embodiment of the present invention, unlike theexample shown in FIG. 8D, the controller 180 may control the touchscreennot to be partitioned into the first region 810 and then second region820. For instance, while a group chat with a first counterpart and asecond counterpart is in progress, if a message is personally receivedfrom one of the first counterpart and the second counterpart withoutusing the group chat, the controller 180 does not partition thetouchscreen into a first region 810 and a second region 820 but candisplay the message personally received from one of the firstcounterpart and the second counterpart on a group chat window with thefirst counterpart and the second counterpart.

In this instance, the personally received message may mean a message ofwhich recipients are designated not as all participants participating inthe group chat but as some of the participants participating in thegroup chat. The controller 180 can display a message personally receivedfrom one of the first counterpart and the second counterpart by beingvisually identifiable from a message received for the group chat. Inparticular, the controller 180 can display a personally received messageand a message received for a group chat by being visually discriminatedfrom each other based on a style of type, a font size, a presence ornon-presence of highlight and/or the like.

Like the example shown in FIG. 8E, while a group chat with Tom and Janeis in progress, if a message is personally received from Tom, thecontroller 810 may display a message personally received from Tom bybeing visually identifiable from other messages. Through this, a usercan recognize that the received message is a personal message exchangedwith Tom, which is not allowed to be read by Jane.

The embodiment described with reference to FIG. 8E may be applicable ina state that the touchscreen is partitioned into a first region and asecond region. For instance, while a chant window for a group chat witha plurality of counterparts is being displayed through the first regionof the touchscreen, if a message is personally received from one of aplurality of the counterparts, the controller 180 displays thepersonally received message on the first region and can also display thepersonally received message by being visually identifiable from amessage for the group chat.

Referring to FIGS. 8A to 8D, if a message or a call signal is receivedfrom a prescribed counterpart, the touchscreen is controlled to beautomatically partitioned into two regions. Therefore, a user can checka newly received message or make a phone call while a previouslyperformed job is in progress.

FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating one example to describe a process forpartitioning a touchscreen into a first region and a second region whena prescribed character is detected from a preview image output from acamera using face recognition. Referring to FIG. 9(a), if a cameraapplication for photographing is activated, the controller 180 candisplay a preview image output from the camera 121.

Thereafter, a prescribed character can be detected from the previewimage by applying a face recognition algorithm to the preview image, inwhich the controller 180 partitions the touchscreen into a first region910 and a second region 920, outputs the preview image, which has beenoutput before the touchscreen is partitioned into the first region 910and the second region 920, through the first region 910, and alsooutputs data related to the detected character through the second region920. In this instance, the data related to the detected character mayinclude at least one of a photo of the detected character and a contactof the detected character.

For instance, referring to FIG. 9(b), if a prescribed character isdetected from the preview image displayed on the first region 910, thecontroller 180 can activate an image viewer application and then outputphotos of the prescribed character among images saved in the memory 160through the second region 920. In another instance, referring to FIG. 9(c), if a prescribed character is detected from the preview imagedisplayed on the first region 910, the controller 180 can display acontact of a counterpart, who is determined as the same as the characterdetected from a phonebook database, through the second region 920.

When an object linked through a hyperlink is selected, the mobileterminal according to one embodiment of the present invention canpartition the touchscreen into a first region and a second region. Inthis instance, the object linked through the hyperlink may include oneof a text string linked to a URL (uniform resource locator) address, atext string linked to an email application, a text string linked to aphone number, a preview image linked to an original image and the like.This is described in detail with reference to FIG. 10 as follows.

FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating one example to describe a process forpartitioning a touchscreen into a first region and a second region whenan object linked through a hyperlink is selected. For clarity of thefollowing description, assume that a message application for displayinga content of a chat with a prescribed counterpart is running in themobile terminal before the touchscreen is partitioned into a firstregion 1010 and a second region 1020. In addition, assume that an objectlinked through a hyperlink includes a text string linked to a URLaddress.

Referring to FIG. 10, if an object linked through a hyperlink is touched(FIG. 10(a)), the controller 180 partitions the touchscreen into thefirst region 1010 and the second region 1020, displays an active screenof the message application, which has been output before the touchscreenis partitioned, on the first region 1010, and also displays an activescreen of the hyperlink having the selected object linked therethroughon the second region 1020 (FIG. 10(b)). Because the touched text stringis assumed as linked to the URL address in FIG. 10(a), an active screenof a web browser for an access to the linked URL address may bedisplayed through the second region 1020.

On the other hand, if the object having the hyperlink linkedtherethrough includes a text string linked to an email address, anactive screen of an email application for sending an email to the linkedemail address may be displayed on the second region. If the objecthaving the hyperlink linked therethrough includes a text string linkedto a phone number, a dialer screen for making a phone call to the linkedphone number or a message creating screen for sending a message to thelinked phone number may be displayed on the second region. If the objecthaving the hyperlink linked therethrough includes a preview image linkedto an original image, the linked original image may be displayed on thesecond region.

According to the embodiments mentioned in the foregoing description, thefirst region and the second region of the touchscreen are discriminatedfrom each other by the display agent bar. According to one embodiment ofthe present invention, a location of the display agent bar placed on aboundary between the first region and the second region can be manuallyadjusted by a user. By adjusting the location of the display agent bar,a user can manually adjust a size of each of the first region and thesecond region. For instance, in FIG. 5(b), if a user shifts the displayagent bar toward the first region, a size of the first region decreaseswhile a size of the second region increases, for example. On thecontrary, if a user shifts the display agent bar toward the secondregion, a size of the first region increases while a size of the secondregion decreases, for example.

The methods of partitioning the touchscreen into the first region andthe second region described with reference to FIGS. 5 to 10 partiallyrepresent various embodiments for partitioning the touchscreen into tworegions, by which the present invention may be non-limited. Hence, thetouchscreen can be partitioned into two regions by various methods otherthan the descriptions with reference to FIGS. 5 to 10.

For instance, like the examples shown in FIG. 5 and FIG. 6, if a userinput for multitasking is received, the controller 180 can partition thetouchscreen into the first region and the second region without usingthe display agent bar. While the touchscreen is partitioned into thefirst region and the second region, when attempting to display a virtualkeypad, the controller 180 can differentiate a screen configurationdepending on whether an output mode of the mobile terminal is set to aportrait mode or a landscape mode. A method of displaying a virtualkeypad depending on an output mode of a mobile terminal shall bedescribed in detail with reference to FIGS. 11A to 11C as follows.

FIGS. 11A to 11C are diagrams illustrating one example to describe aprocess for outputting a virtual keypad to a touchscreen. Referring toFIG. 11A, if an event for displaying a virtual keypad 1130 occurs in oneof a first region 1110 and a second region 1120, the controller 180 candisplay the virtual keypad 1130 on the touchscreen. For instance, ifthere occurs such an event for displaying the virtual keypad 1130 as acase of touching such a text input window as an address input window forinputting a URL address of a webpage, a search word input window forinputting a search word at a portal site, a message input window forinputting a content of message to be delivered to a prescribedcounterpart and the like, the controller 180 can display the virtualkeypad 1130 on the touchscreen.

While an output mode of the mobile terminal is set to a landscape mode,when attempting to output the virtual keypad 1130, referring to FIG.11A, the controller 180 can display the virtual keypad 1130 across thefirst region 1110 and the second region 1120 overall irrespective of thefact that the corresponding event occurs in the first region 1110 or thesecond region 1120. This is to prevent the following inconvenience.First of all, if the virtual keypad 1130 is displayed on one of thefirst region 1110 and the second region 1120 only, it may causeinconvenience to a user in inputting a text.

If a text input window selected for a text input is located in a regionfor displaying the virtual keypad 1130, the controller 180 can controlthe text input window to be scrolled over the virtual keypad 1130 whileoutputting the virtual keypad 1130 in order to prevent the text inputwindow, on which a text input through the virtual keypad 1130 isdisplayed, from being blocked by the virtual keypad 1130. Hence, a usercan check whether a text is correctly input to the text input window.

Moreover, if an object currently output through at least one of thefirst region 1110 and the second region 1120 includes a chat screen of achat with a prescribed counterpart, referring to FIG. 11A, thecontroller 180 can control a message, which has been transceived withthe prescribed counterpart most recently, to be scrolled over thevirtual keypad 1130. Hence, a user can input a text while viewing themost recently transceived with the prescribed counterpart.

In order for a user to recognize a region selected from the first region1110 and the second region 1120 to display an input text thereon, thecontroller 180 may display the rest of regions except an event occurringregion by being shaded. For instance, if an event for displaying thevirtual keypad 1130 occurs in the first region 1110, referring to FIG.11A, the controller 180 can control the second region 1120 to be shadedwhile the virtual keypad 1130 is displayed across the first region 1110and the second region 1120. Hence, a user can recognize that a textinput through the virtual keypad 1130 can be displayed on the firstregion 1110.

FIG. 11B and FIG. 11C are diagrams illustrating one example to describethat the virtual keypad 1130 is displayed when setting an output mode ofthe mobile terminal to a portrait mode. For clarity of the followingdescription, assume that a top part and a bottom part of the touchscreeninclude a first region 1110 and a second region 1120, respectively.

Referring to FIG. 11B and FIG. 11C, when an output mode of the mobileterminal is set to a portrait mode, unlike the example when setting theoutput mode of the mobile terminal to the landscape mode, a screenconfiguration can be changed depending on whether an event occurs in thefirst region 1110 or the second region 1120.

First of all, referring to FIG. 11B, if an event for displaying thevirtual keypad 1130 occurs in the first region 1110 of the top part ofthe touchscreen, the controller 180 can display the virtual keypad 1130at least one portion of the second region 1120 while maintaining anoutput of the first region 1110 intact. On the other hand, referring toFIG. 11C, if an event for displaying the virtual keypad 1130 occurs inthe second region 1120 of the bottom part of the touchscreen, thecontroller 180 can display the virtual keypad 1130 on at least oneportion of the second region 1120 while shifting an output screen of thesecond region 1120 to the first region 1110. This is to prevent a regionfor inputting a text thereto from being blocked by the virtual keypad1130.

Various methods of partitioning a touchscreen into a first region and asecond region according to embodiments of the present invention aredescribed in detail in the foregoing descriptions. In the followingdescription, a method of sharing data with a prescribed counterpartafter partitioning the touchscreen into the first region and the secondregion shall be described in detail.

<Data Sharing with Prescribed Counterpart>

When a touchscreen is partitioned into a first region and a secondregion, a first application and a second application can be activethrough the first region and the second region. For instance, in theexamples shown in FIG. 5 and FIG. 6, a user can activate the firstapplication through a manipulation of the home screen displayed throughthe first region. In addition, the user can also activate the secondapplication through the application list displayed through the secondregion. In another instance, in the example shown in FIG. 7, it canactivate the first application through a manipulation of the homescreen. In addition, the user can also activate the second applicationthrough the object touched & dragged to the display agent bar.

In another instance, in the examples shown in FIGS. 8 to 10, the messageor camera application activated before partitioning the touchscreen intothe first region and the second region becomes the first applicationactivated in the first region and the second application can beactivated in accordance with a type of an event occurring in the mobileterminal and an attribute of a hyperlink object.

In the mobile terminal according to another embodiment of the presentinvention, after the touchscreen has been partitioned into a firstregion and a second region, a first application or a second applicationmay be activated by touching & dragging a prescribed object displayed onone of the first region and the second region to the other. Forinstance, if an icon for activating a prescribed application displayedthrough the first region is dragged to the second region, an activescreen of the prescribed application can be displayed through the secondregion in the manner similar to that described with reference to FIG.7A.

In another instance, if a contact of a prescribed counterpart displayedthrough the first region is dragged to the second region, an applicationfor making contact with the prescribed counterpart may be activatedthrough the second region in the manner similar to that described withreference to FIG. 7B. Moreover, while a group chat with a plurality ofcounterparts is in progress through the first region, if a profile iconof at least one of a plurality of the counterparts or a message receivedfrom at least one of a plurality of the counterparts is dragged to thesecond region, an application for displaying a chat window for a chatwith a selected counterpart may be activated through the second regionin the manner similar to that described with reference to FIG. 7C.

The first and second applications activated through the first region andthe second region may include applications different from each other butmay include the same application. When the first region and the secondregion include the same application, an operation of the mobile terminalshall be described in detail with reference to FIGS. 12A to 12C asfollows.

FIGS. 12A to 12C are diagrams illustrating one example to describe anoperation of a mobile terminal if a first application and a secondapplication are identical to each other. In particular, FIG. 12A is adiagram illustrating one example when each of a first application and asecond application includes a video play application.

Referring to FIG. 12A, if each of a first application and a secondapplication includes a video play application, the controller 180 playsa first video and a second video through a first region 1210 and asecond region 1220, respectively, thereby providing a user withconvenience in playing a plurality of videos simultaneously.

FIG. 12B is a diagram illustrating an example of when each of a firstapplication and a second application includes a web browser. Referringto FIG. 12B, if each of a first application and a second applicationincludes a web browser, a user refers a first webpage through the firstregion 1210 and also refers a second webpage through the second region1220, thereby being provided with convenience in referring a pluralityof webpages simultaneously.

FIG. 12C is a diagram for example of a case that each of a firstapplication and a second application includes a message. Referring toFIG. 12C, if each of a first application and a second applicationincludes a message application, a user performs a chat with a firstcounterpart through the first region 1210 and also performs a chat witha second counterpart through the second region 1220, thereby beingprovided with convenience in performing chats with a plurality ofcounterparts simultaneously.

When a chat window for a chat with a prescribed counterpart is displayedthrough at least one of a first region and a second region, the mobileterminal according to the present invention facilitates a data sharingwith the prescribed counterpart. For clarity of the followingdescription, a chat window for a chat with a prescribed counterpart isdisplayed through a first region of the touchscreen partitioned into thefirst region and the second region.

FIG. 13 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of a mobile terminalaccording to the present invention. Referring to FIG. 13, if a firstpoint inside the first region of the touchscreen and a second pointinside the second region of the touchscreen are touched (Yes in S1301),the controller 180 can transmit a shared data in the second region to aprescribed counterpart (S1302). In this instance, the shared data in thesecond region may include at least one of a data displayed through thesecond region, a data file displayed through the second region and adata created from the second application currently running in the secondregion.

The touch to the first point and the second point can be implemented invarious ways including a drag input to the second point from the firstpoint, a drag input to the first point from the second point, a touchinput applied to both of the first point and the second pointsubstantially at the same time, and the like. Methods of sharing datawith a prescribed counterpart according to various embodiments of thepresent invention are described in detail as follows. For clarity,assume that a touch to a first point and a second point includes a draginput to the first point from the second point in the followingdescriptions with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 14 is a diagram of one example to describe a process fortransmitting data displayed through a second region to a prescribedcounterpart. In addition, FIG. 15 is a diagram of another example todescribe a process for transmitting data displayed through a secondregion to a prescribed counterpart. For clarity of the followingdescription, assume that a webpage configured with an image and text isdisplayed on a second region 1420/1520.

Referring to FIG. 14, if an image 1430 included in a webpage displayedthrough a second region 1420 is dragged to a first region 1410 fordisplaying a content of a chat with a prescribed counterpart (FIG.14(a)), the controller 180 can transmit the dragged image 1430 to theprescribed counterpart (FIG. 14(b)).

Referring to FIG. 15, if a text 1530 included in a webpage displayedthrough a second region 1520 is dragged to a first region 1510 fordisplaying a content of a chat with a prescribed counterpart (FIG.15(a)), the controller 180 can transmit the dragged text 1520 to theprescribed counterpart (FIG. 15(b)).

Like the examples shown in FIG. 14 and FIG. 15, if the data displayedthrough the second region 1420/1520 is dragged to the first region1410/1510, the controller 180 can transmit the dragged data to aprescribed counterpart. After the data displayed through the secondregion has been copied, if the data to be shared is just dragged to thefirst region without pasting the copied data on the first region, thecorresponding data can be shared with the prescribed counterpart.Therefore, the convenience in using the mobile terminal can be enhanced.

FIG. 14 and FIG. 15 just show the examples of displaying the webpage onthe second region for the convenience of the description, by which thepresent invention may be non-limited. Unlike the examples shown in FIG.14 and FIG. 15, various kinds of contents including a memo input by auser, a message received from another counterpart, a message sent toanother counterpart, a received message and the like can be displayed onthe second region.

Like the examples shown in FIG. 14 and FIG. 15, when a content includedin the webpage is transmitted to a prescribed counterpart, thecontroller 180 can transmit meta information to the prescribedcounterpart. In this instance, the meta information may include at leastone of a URL address of the webpage, a URL address for accessing animage included in the webpage and the like.

When the meta information is transmitted to a prescribed counterpart,referring to FIG. 14(b), the controller 180 can transmit the metainformation included in the webpage as a separate message 1440 to theprescribed counterpart. If so, the counterpart having received themessage may attempt an access to a URL indicated by the meta informationby touching the message having the meta information recorded therein.

In another instance, the controller 180 can transmit a content havingthe meta information set to a hyperlink object to a prescribedcounterpart. For example, referring to FIG. 15(b), if a URL of thewebpage is set to a hyperlink object in a text transmitted to aprescribed counterpart, the counterpart having received the message mayattempt an access to the URL of the webpage by touching the text.

FIG. 16 is a diagram of a further example to describe a process fortransmitting data displayed through a second region to a prescribedcounterpart. For clarity of the following description, assume that a mapis displayed on a second region of the touchscreen.

Referring to FIG. 16, if a drag input to a first region 1610 from asecond region 1620 is received (FIG. 16(a)), the controller 180 cantransmit a capture image 1630 of capturing at least one portion of thesecond region 1620 to a prescribed counterpart (FIG. 16(b)). Like theexample shown in FIG. 16, the capture image 1630 of the map displayedthrough the second region 1620 is transmitted to a prescribedcounterpart, whereby a location sharing with the counterpart isfacilitated.

FIG. 16 shows the example of displaying the map on the second region1620 for clarity of the corresponding description, by which the presentinvention may be non-limited. Unlike the example shown in FIG. 16,various formats of data files including a document file, a music file, avideo file and the like can be shared with a prescribed counterpart aswell.

Further, when the capture image of the map is transmitted to theprescribed counterpart, referring to FIG. 16(b), the controller 180 cantransmit at least one 1640 of an address information and a coordinatesinformation transmitted to the prescribed counterpart.

FIG. 17 is a diagram of one example to describe a process fortransmitting a data file saved in a memory to a prescribed counterpart.For clarity of the following description, assume that a list of imagefiles saved in the memory 160 is displayed on a second region. Referringto FIG. 17, if a prescribed image file selected by a user from an imagefile list displayed through a second region 1720 is dragged to a firstregion 1710 for displaying a content of a chat with a prescribedcounterpart (FIG. 17(a)), the controller 180 can transmit the draggedimage file to the prescribed counterpart (FIG. 17(b)).

Like the example shown in FIG. 17, if a data file displayed on thesecond region 1720 is dragged to the first region 1710, the controller180 can transmit the dragged data file to a prescribed counterpart.Hence, a user can share the data file without a separate step ofattaching the file, thereby enhancing convenience in using the mobileterminal.

FIG. 17 shows one example of displaying the image file list saved in thememory 160 through the second region 1720 for clarity of thecorresponding description, by which the present invention isnon-limited.

Next, FIG. 18 is a diagram of one example to describe a process fortransmitting data created a second application to a prescribedcounterpart. For clarity of the following description, assume that apreview image output from the camera 121 is displayed on a second region1820. Referring to FIG. 18, if a drag input from a second point of asecond region 1820 to a first point of a first region 1810 is received(FIG. 18(a)), the controller 180 captures a photo to through the camera121 and then transmits the taken photo to a prescribed counterpart (FIG.18(b)).

If a drag input from the second region 1820 to the first region 1810 isreceived, as shown in FIG. 18, a photographing is automaticallyperformed and the taken photo is automatically transmitted to aprescribed counterpart, whereby the taken photo can be easily sharedwith the corresponding counterpart while a user has a chat with thecorresponding counterpart.

If the drag input to the first region 1810 from the second region 1820is complete, i.e., if a pointer is released from the first region 1810,the controller 180 can capture a photo through the camera 121. Inanother instance, if the pointer for the drag input to the first region1810 from the second region 1820 deviates from the second region 1820,the controller 180 may capture a photo through the camera 121.

In the examples shown in FIG. 14 and FIG. 18, a chat window for a chatwith a single counterpart is displayed through the first region. If agroup chat with a plurality of counterparts is in progress through thefirst region of the touchscreen, data to be shared may be transmitted toall of the counterparts in response to a touch to a first point insidethe first region and a second point inside the second region.

According to another embodiment of the present invention, the controller180 can control data, which is to be shared, to be transmitted only to aprescribed counterpart specified by a touch to a first point among aplurality of counterparts. This shall be described in detail withreference to FIG. 19 as follows.

FIG. 19 is a diagram of one example to describe a process fortransmitting data to share to a prescribed one of a plurality ofcounterparts having a group chat in progress only. For clarity of thefollowing description, assume that a group chat with a first counterpartand a second counterpart is in progress through a first region. Inaddition, assume that a chat with a third counterpart is in progressthrough a second region.

Referring to 19(a), if a second point inside a second region 1920 and afirst point inside a first region 1910 are touched, the controller 180can control a message with a third counterpart specified by the touch tothe second point to be personally transmitted to a counterpart specifiedby the touch to the first point. In the example shown in FIG. 19(a),because the first point indicates a profile image of Jane, thecontroller 180 can control a message, which is received from Johnspecified by the touch to the second point, to be personally transmittedto Jane.

In this instance, the personally transmitted message may mean themessage having recipients set to some of participants participating inthe group chat instead of setting recipients to all participantsparticipating in the group chat.

When a message is personally transmitted to a prescribed one of aplurality of counterparts, the controller 180 can display the personallytransmitted message being visually discriminated from a messagetransmitted for a group chat. In particular, the controller 180 candisplay a personally received message and a message received for a groupchat by being visually discriminated from each other based on a style oftype, a font size, a presence or non-presence of highlight and/or thelike. Like the example shown in FIG. 19(b), while a group chat with Tomand Jane is in progress, if a message is personally transmitted to Jane,the controller 810 may display the message having recipients set to Tomand Jane and the message personally transmitted to Jane by beingvisually discriminated from each other.

For clarity of the above description, FIG. 19 shows one example that amessage is received from another counterpart as data to be shared with aprescribed counterpart. However, data to be shared with a prescribedcounterpart is not limited by the example shown in FIG. 19. Various datadescribed with reference to FIG. 14 and FIG. 18 can be applied to FIG.19 as well.

In the example shown in FIG. 13, if the first point inside the firstregion and the second point inside the second region are touched, atleast one of the data displayed through the second region, the datacreated from the second application running in the second region and thedata file saved in the memory 160 can be transmitted to a prescribedcounterpart currently having a chat in the first region.

Contrary to the example shown in FIG. 13, the controller 180 can createnew data based on data in the first region, i.e., a message receivedfrom or transmitted to a prescribed counterpart or can control anoperation of the second application currently running in the secondregion based on a message received from or transmitted to a prescribedcounterpart. In the following description, operations of a mobileterminal using data displayed through a first region shall be explainedin detail with reference to the following embodiments.

Next, FIGS. 20 to 22 are diagrams for examples to describe a process forcreating new data using data displayed through a first region. Inparticular, FIG. 20 is a diagram of one example to describe a processfor inputting a memo using data displayed through a first region.

Referring to FIG. 20, assume that a memo creating screen for creating amemo is displayed on a second region 2020. If one of messages with aprescribed counterpart displayed through a first region 2010 is draggedto a second region 2020 (FIG. 20(a)), the controller 180 can control thedragged message to be input to the memo creating screen (FIG. 20(b)).

FIG. 21 is a diagram of one example to describe a process for adding auser schedule using data displayed through a first region. Referring toFIG. 21, assume that a schedule management screen for managing a userschedule is displayed through a second region 2120. If one of messageswith a prescribed counterpart displayed through a first region 2110 isdragged to a second region 2120 (FIG. 21(a)), the controller 180extracts an appointment time and date or an appointment place from thedragged message and is then able to control a user schedule to be addedbased on the extracted data.

Thus, referring to FIG. 21(b), in order to indicate that the addedschedule relates to a schedule with the prescribed counterpart duringhaving a chat in the first region 2110, the controller 180 can control aname of the prescribed counterpart to be inserted in a schedule title.In the example shown in FIG. 21, because a text string ‘3 PM on Friday’is included, the user schedule can be added to 3 PM on upcoming Friday.

FIG. 22 is a diagram of another example to describe a process for addinga user schedule using data displayed through a first region. Referringto FIG. 22, assume that an alarm setting screen for setting an alarm isdisplayed through a second region 2220. If one of messages with aprescribed counterpart displayed through a first region 2210 is draggedto a second region 2220 (FIG. 22(a)), the controller 180 extracts a timeand date from the dragged message and is then able to control an alarmto be added to the extracted time and date. In the example shown in FIG.22, because a text string ‘3 PM on Friday’ is included, the alarm can beadded to 3 PM on upcoming Friday.

According to the examples shown in FIGS. 20 to 22, the controller 180can easily create such new data in the mobile terminal as a memo, aschedule, an alarm and the like based on a message with a prescribedcounterpart displayed through the first region.

FIG. 23 is a diagram of one example to describe a process forcontrolling an operation of a second application running in a secondregion based on a prescribed counterpart's message displayed on a firstregion. For clarity of the following description, assume that a previewimage output from the camera 121 is displayed on a second region 2320.In addition, assume that QR (quick response) code is included in amessage specified by a touch to a first point.

Referring to FIG. 23(a), if a message including QR code is dragged to asecond region 2320, the controller 180 can scan the QR code included inthe message. Thereafter, the controller 180 can display a QR code scanresult through one of the first region 2310 and the second region 2320.For instance, if a URL address for an access to a prescribed webpage isread out from the QR code, referring to FIG. 23(b), the controller 180can display a web browser for an access to the read-out URL address onone of the first region 2310 and the second region 2320.

Like the example shown in FIG. 23, the controller 180 can facilitate ascan of such a smart code as QR code and the like based on a messagewith a prescribed counterpart displayed through the first region 2310.

Accordingly, embodiments of the present invention provide severaladvantages. First of all, the present invention provides a mobileterminal, thereby enhancing user's convenience. In particular, thepresent invention provides a mobile terminal, thereby facilitating adata sharing using a screen partitioned into two regions.

It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the presentinvention can be specified into other form(s) without departing from thespirit or scope of the inventions. In addition, the above-describedmethods can be implemented in a program recorded medium asprocessor-readable codes. The processor-readable media may include allkinds of recording devices in which data readable by a processor arestored. The processor-readable media may include ROM, RAM, CD-ROM,magnetic tapes, floppy discs, optical data storage devices, and the likefor example and also include carrier-wave type implementations (e.g.,transmission via Internet).

It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that variousmodifications and variations can be made in the present inventionwithout departing from the spirit or scope of the inventions. Thus, itis intended that the present invention covers the modifications andvariations of this invention provided they come within the scope of theappended claims and their equivalents.

What is claimed is:
 1. A mobile terminal comprising: a wirelesscommunication unit configured to perform wireless communication; atouchscreen configured to display information and sense a touch input;and a controller configured to: display an object between a first regionand a second region of the touchscreen, adjust sizes of the first andsecond regions based on a shifting of the object, display an inputwindow at the first region, display a virtual keypad at a bottom part ofthe touchscreen in response to the input window being selected, anddisplay the first region above the virtual keypad.
 2. The mobileterminal of claim 1, wherein the first region is placed at a top part ofthe touchscreen, the second region is placed at the bottom part of thetouchscreen, and the virtual keypad covers at least a portion of thesecond region.
 3. The mobile terminal of claim 1, wherein the firstregion is placed at a top part of the touchscreen, and the second regionis placed at the bottom part of the touchscreen, and wherein thecontroller is further configured to move the second region above thevirtual keypad.
 4. The mobile terminal of claim 1, wherein the firstregion and the second region are placed side by side in a horizontaldirection on the touchscreen, and wherein the controller is furtherconfigured to display the virtual keypad across the first and secondregions.
 5. The mobile terminal of claim 1, wherein the controller isfurther configured to display a sign to recognize that the selectedinput window is not located at the second region but is located at thefirst region.
 6. The mobile terminal of claim 5, wherein the signincludes shading at the second region.
 7. The mobile terminal of claim1, wherein the controller is further configured to shift the inputwindow to a top portion of the touchscreen if the input window is placedat a bottom of the touchscreen when displaying the virtual keypad. 8.The mobile terminal of claim 7, wherein the controller is furtherconfigured to shift a message most recently transceived to a top of theinput window if the input window is a chatting input window.
 9. Themobile terminal of claim 1, wherein the controller is further configuredto partition the touchscreen into the first and second regions inresponse to a drag input from an end of the touchscreen.
 10. The mobileterminal of claim 9, wherein the drag input includes dragging the objectdisplayed at the end of the touchscreen.
 11. The mobile terminal ofclaim 1, wherein the controller is further configured to: display anoutput image, which has been output before the touchscreen ispartitioned into the first and second regions, on one of the first andsecond regions, and display an application list on the other of thefirst and second regions.
 12. The mobile terminal of claim 11, whereinthe application list comprises at least one of a list of most recentlyactivated applications, a list of applications currently running inbackground state and a list of frequently-used applications.
 13. Amethod of controlling a mobile terminal, the method comprising:displaying an object between a first region and a second region of atouchscreen of the mobile terminal; adjusting, via a controller of themobile terminal, sizes of the first and second regions based on ashifting of the object; displaying, via the controller, an input windowat the first region; displaying, via the controller, a virtual keypad ata bottom part of the touchscreen in response to the input window beingselected; and displaying the first region above the virtual keypad. 14.The method of claim 13, wherein the first region is placed at a top partof the touchscreen, the second region is placed at the bottom part ofthe touchscreen, and the virtual keypad covers at least a portion of thesecond region.
 15. The method of claim 13, wherein the first region isplaced at a top part of the touchscreen, and the second region is placedat the bottom part of the touchscreen, and wherein the method furthercomprises moving the second region above the virtual keypad.
 16. Themethod of claim 13, wherein the first and second regions are placed sideby side in a horizontal direction on the touchscreen, and wherein themethod further comprises displaying the virtual keypad across the firstand second regions.
 17. The method of claim 13, further comprising:displaying a sign to recognize that the selected input window is notlocated at the second region but is located at the first region.
 18. Themethod of claim 17, wherein the sign includes shading at the secondregion.
 19. The method of claim 13, further comprising: shifting theinput window to a top portion of the touchscreen if the input window isplaced at a bottom of the touchscreen when displaying the virtualkeypad.
 20. The method of claim 19, further comprising: shifting amessage most recently transceived to a top of the input window if theinput window is a chatting input window.